An apparently optimistic Congress has already budgeted the Iraq war victory celebration, to be held in the nation’s capital for $20 million. Although originally contained in this year’s military budget, the allocation has been rolled over to next year, and perhaps the next…. (h/t: Daily Kos)

North Korea said it will conduct a nuclear test, a key step in the manufacture of atomic bombs, but also said it’s committed to disarmament—suggesting that the whole thing is a bargaining ploy.So, Iraq has suspected facilities related to weapons of mass destruction and we invade? But North Korea announces it’s building a bomb and Condi Rice shoots off a press release?

Two astronomers took home the big prize for a satellite they created that backed the Big Bang theory of the universe’s origins. Stephen Hawking called their finding “the greatest discovery of the century, if not of all time.”

Lawyers for 25 men being held in Afghanistan filed a habeas corpus petition in advance of Bush’s plan to outlaw that exact motion. If Congress isn’t going to stand up to Bush on this travesty of a law, it’s good to see that some parties are.

The Senate majority leader, having concluded that we can’t win a guerrilla war in Afghanistan, wants to invite the Taliban and its supporters back into the government.So, all that talk about bringing democracy and freedom to Afghanistan ... screw it, huh? Let’s just give the place back to the harborers of the 9/11 attackers?